Ministry of Home Affairs

A majority in the Eerste Kamer, the Dutch Senate, voted for implementing a new data mining law that will give the Dutch intelligence services the authority to intercept data on a large scale. The new law was drawn up by Interior Minister Ronald Plasterk and will take effect on January 1st, NOS reports.

Minister Ronald Plasterk of Home Affairs decided to pull the plug on the modernization of the Basic Registration of Persons (BRP), previously called the population register. According to the Minister, the project turned out to be much more expensive and time-consuming than estimated and is not worth pursuing. He called it a "sad conclusion" on Wednesday night, ANP reports.

Former PvdA parliamentarian Ahmed Marcouch will be the new mayor of Arnhem. The intention is that he will take office on September 1st. The former MP will be succeeding Herman Kaiser, who stepped down on June 1st, NOS reports.

According to PVV leader Geert Wilders, people who pose a threat to national security must be arrested immediately, even if there's little evidence against them. He is submitting a legislative proposal to parliament today that gives intelligence service AIVD the capability of keeping potential terrorists in custody for six months, NOS reports

A massive 8,700 votes from the municipalities Boxmeer and Bergeijk were not counted in the parliamentary election in March due to human error at the main polling station in Den Bosch, Minister Ronald Plasterk of Home Affairs revealed after receiving a report from Mayor Ton Rombouts, Brabants Dagblad reports.

The counting of votes in Dutch elections must be better checked and there must be more transparency into the process, Minister Ronald Plasterk of Home Affairs concluded after evaluating the parliamentary election in March, ANP reports.

The consortium Made by Holland that bought the Soestdijk Palace from the Dutch state, plans to turn the palace and estate into "a platform for innovations and excellent entrepreneurship" with exhibitions and events for a broad audience, Minister Ronald Plasterk of Home Affairs wrote in a letter to parliament, NRC reports.

The Soestdijk Palace was sold to Made by Holland and will partly be converted into a hotel, the Ministry of Home Affairs announced. The consortium paid the Dutch state 1.7 million euros for the palace, NOS reports.

A majority of the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, is in favor of a legislative amendment that would extend confidentiality to also apply to parliamentarians' digital communications, such as WhatsApp messages and emails. The government submitted the proposed amendment in 2014, and the Tweede Kamer debated it on Wednesday, NU.nl reports.

The vast majority of Dutch municipalities want to go back to using voting machines in the next election, according to a survey by NOS among 235 municipalities. A massive 90 percent of them want the use of voting machines to be reintroduced as soon as possible, if that can be done safely.

Many municipalities in the Netherlands aren't good at dealing with citizen complaints about healthcare, youth support and guidance to work, according to the National Ombudsman. The Ombudsman is handing the results of an investigation in this field to the Home Affairs Minister today.

The Dutch government is implementing stricter rules for very high salaries that are paid with tax money, such as those of presenters for public broadcasters or managers in healthcare. From now on workers in the public and semi-public sector may no longer earn more money than Ministers, Minister Ronald Plasterk of Home Affairs announced on Friday, ANP reports.

The PVV's legislative proposal to make municipalities only participate in Sinterklaas events in which Zwarte Piet is wearing blackface makeup, could count on almost no support from both the lower house of Dutch parliament and the Dutch government today. Most parties in parliament were against the law and Minister Ronald Plasterk of Home Affairs stated that the bill goes against the Dutch constitution.

The Dutch Public Prosecutor wants to prosecute jihadists before their return to the Netherlands, while they are still in Syria and Iraq, national coordinating prosecutor Ferry van Veghel said in Nieuwsuur. "Given the high risk of people who come back from this area, we do not want to wait until they come back before opening criminal investigations. We want it all to start now and continue in their absence", he said.

Interior Minister Ronald Plasterk can not guarantee that no fraud was committed in the collection of signatures in support of the Ukraine referendum, he said in response to questions from law firm Bureau Brandeis on the matter.

The lower house of Dutch parliament is debating a new data mining law that will give the Dutch intelligence services AIVD and MIVD the power to intercept data streams on large scales. The expectation is that the law will be voted in, as a majority in parliament already revealed support for the law, AD reports.

The Hague city council picked Pauline Krikke to be the city's new mayor, the council announced on Monday after hours of private deliberations. Krikke is taking over from Jozias van Aartsen, who is stepping down on March 1st, and will be The Hague's first female mayor.

Krikke was mayor of Arnhem between 2001 and 2013 and an alderman in Amsterdam between 1996 and 2001, Het Parool reports. She was also the director of the Scheepvaartmuseum and most recently a Senator for the VVD in the Eerste Kamer, the Dutch senate.

The votes in the upcoming parliamentary elections in March will all be counted by hand only, to avoid any chance of hackers interfering with the outcome, Minister Ronald Plasterk of Home Affairs announced on Wednesday. This follows concerns about the security of software used by the Electoral Council and warnings that the Dutch election may be targeted by foreign parties.

A total of 31 parties registered to take part in the parliamentary elections in the Netherlands on March 15th by submitting their lists of candidates on Monday, the Electoral Council announced on Tuesday, ANP reports.

A record number of 81 parties initially showed interest in taking part in the election, but 50 of them drop out for one reason or another. In the previous parliamentary elections in 2012, 48 parties initially registered but only 21 parties actually participated.

The software used at Dutch polling stations to send election results, is outdated and very vulnerable to hackers and there are not enough rules around where and where the software can be installed, according to security expert Sijmen Ruwhof, who investigated the software on behalf of RTL Nieuws. According to Ruwhof, "the average iPad is more secure than the Dutch voting system".

The National Reading Days in the Netherlands kicked off on Wednesday morning with numerous Dutch celebrities reading to kids at breakfast at schools, kindergartens, daycares and libraries across the country, Het Parool reports.